Basins Research Group (BRG)

1. Basins Research Group (BRG) BRG webpage: www.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/research/basins

2. Group Members • PhD Students • Azli Abu Bakar (PETRONAS) • Abdulaziz Al-Balushi (PDO) • Hayley Allen (IC) • Donatella Astratti (Self) • Johan Claringbould (Statoil) • Elisabeth Evrard (Statoil) • Yvette Flood (IC) • Nicholas Holgate (Self) • Aruna Mannie (Commonwealth) • Benoît Massart (Shell) • Matthew Lewis (IC) • Stefano Patruno (IC) • Clara Rodriguez (Self) • Thilo Wrona (IC) • Staff • Dr Christopher Jackson • Professor Alastair Fraser • Dr Gary Hampson • Professor Howard Johnson • Dr Alex Whittaker • Research Associates (PDRA) • Dr Craig Magee (IC) • Dr Amandine Prélat (IC) • Dr Rebecca Bell (Statoil) • Dr Peter Fitch (ExxonMobil) Previous group members: Dr Karla Kane (PDRA 2008; now at Statoil), Dr Gavin Elliott (PDRA 2012; now at LukOil), Rachel Kieft (PhD 2009; now at BP), Andrew McAndrew (PhD 2010; now at ExxonMobil), Faisal Alqahtani (PhD 2010; now at King Fahd University), Paul Whipp (PhD 2010; now at Statoil), Abdullah Adli Zakaria (PhD 2010; now at PETRONAS), Evelina Dmitrieva (PhD 2012; now at Repsol)

3. BRG Research Overview • This Basin Research Group (BRG) focuses on the geodynamic, structural, and stratigraphic evolution of sedimentary basins • We are a multidisciplinary group of Earth Scientists who are committed to understanding the fundamental geological processes operating in evolving sedimentary basins, and the application of this understanding to determining the nature, origin and occurrence of natural resources • We are involved in integrated surface and subsurface investigations worldwide, using a combination of traditional field-based methods and state-of-the-art technologies for geophysical, geological and geochemical data acquisition, processing, analysis and three-dimensional visualisation

4. Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy • Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of non-marine-to-shallow-marine clastic depositional systems: • Dip and strike sedimentological and stratigraphic variability • Impact on reservoir modelling and production performance • Combination of seismic reflection, core and wireline log analysis • Field studies in Borneo, Argentina, South Africa • Associated staff and research students: Dr Chris Jackson, Prof Howard Johnson, Dr Gary Hampson, Dr Amandine Prélat (PDRA), Nicholas Holgate (PhD), Stefano Patruno (PhD), Aruna Mannie (PhD), Ben Said (MSci) Stratigraphic correlation through the Vestland and Boknfjord groups; from Mannie et al. (in review)

5. Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy • Deep-water sedimentology and stratigraphy in structurally-complex settings: • Interaction between tectonics and sedimentary processes on submarine slopes • Characterisation of hybrid event beds • Outcrop and subsurface-based studies from offshore Norway, offshore UK, Argentina, South Africa • Associated staff and students: Dr Chris Jackson, Prof Howard Johnson, Dr Gary Hampson, Dr Amandine Prélat (PDRA), Stefano Patruno (PhD), Rob Duller (PDRA at Liverpool), Jord de Boer (PhD at Bergen)

6. Structural Geology • The growth of normal faults and fault-related folding in extensional settings: • Fault growth via segment linkage • Fault-related folding • Impact of pre-existing structures on the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of rifts • Associated staff and students: Dr Chris Jackson, Dr Rebecca Bell (PDRA), Matthew Lewis (PhD), Jord de Boer (PhD at Bergen), Anette Tvedt (PhD at UiB), Duarte Soares (PhD at Cardiff)

7. Structural Geology • Salt tectonics: • Impact of stratigraphic heterogeneity on salt-related structural styles • Normal fault growth in salt-influenced sedimentary basins • Geodynamic and thermal impact of salt deposition • Associated staff and students: Dr Chris Jackson, Professor Alastair Fraser, Dr Rebecca Bell (PDRA), Matthew Lewis (PhD), Hayley Allen (PhD), Abdulaziz Al-Balushi (PhD), Clara Rodriguez (PhD), Donatella Astratti (PhD)

8. Dynamic Subsurface Processes • Igneous processes and their impacts on petroleum system development: • Sill emplacement and implications for reservoir quality and trap development • Seismic reflection-based studies from offshore Australia, offshore UK and offshore Norway • Associated staff and students: Dr Christopher Jackson, Dr Craig Magee (PDRA), Esther Hunt-Stewart (MSci) Volcanic vents and associated radial and concentric fractures, Otway Basin, offshore southern Australia (image courtesy of Nick Schofield) Igneous sills and extrusive volcanic cones, Bight Basin, offshore southern Australia

9. Dynamic Subsurface Processes • Fluid flow and sediment remobilisation in sedimentary basins: • Remobilisation and injection of deep-marine sands • Mudstone remobilisation and associated deformation • Seismic imaging and borehole calibration of diagenetic boundaries and implications for fluid flow and petroleum system development • Seismic reflection- and borehole based studies from offshore UK and offshore Norway • Associated staff and students: Thilo Wrona (PhD), Evelina Dmitrieva (PhD), Oluwatobi Olobayo (UoM)

10. Funding, and software Funding: • Software: • Petrel (Schlumberger) (seismic interpretation) • Kingdom Suite (HIS) (seismic interpretation) • SViPro (FFA) (seismic visualisation) • TrapTester (Badleys Geoscience) (quantitative fault analysis) • Flex/Stretch (Badleys Geoscience) (forward and inverse modelling of basin geodynamic processes • Move (Midland Valley) (structural modelling) • Interactive Petrophysics (petrophysical analysis)

11. PhD Training Opportunities • During the PhD program the students will gain technical skills in: • The interpretation and visualisation of 2D and 3D seismic reflection data • Modelling and interpretation of potential-field data (e.g. gravity, magnetics) • The quantitative and qualitative interpretation of electrical (wireline) log data • Core description of clastic sedimentary sequences • The student will also gain associated skills in: • Teaching via their involvement in lab- and field-based courses (e.g. MSc fieldtrips to Utah, US and Derbyshire, UK, Seismic Interpretation Techniques) • The petroleum industry via visits to companies associated with their research projects For more information please contact: Dr Christopher Jackson (c.jackson@imperial.ac.uk or +44(0)2074947450) or visit the Basins Research Group (BRG) webpage (http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/research/basins)

12. List of current research projects • Research Associates (PDRA) • Dr Craig Magee (IC) - Understanding the structural emplacement of igneous intrusions to assess their potential impacts on sedimentary basin and petroleum system evolution • Dr Amandine Prélat(IC) - Interaction between sedimentology and tectonics in shallow marine environments • Dr Rebecca Bell (Statoil) - Investigating tectonic history and fault behaviours using offshore and onshore geological and geophysical data • Dr Peter Fitch (ExxonMobil) - Reservoir characterisation and fluid flow in carbonate reservoirs • PhD Students • Azli Abu Bakar (PETRONAS) – Structural and stratigraphic evolution of salt-related depocentres • Abdulaziz Al-Balushi (OPD) - Impact of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) on hydrocarbon maturation and migration • Hayley Allen (IC) – Facies distribution in a saline giant: a seismic reflection and borehole analysis of the Messinian Salinity Crisis • Johan Claringbould (Statoil) – Structural and Stratigraphic Expression of Multiphase Extension in Rift Basins • Elisabeth Evrard(Statoil) - Facies distribution in the Zechstein Supergroup and influence on rift basin structural style in the Greater South Viking Graben, Northern North Sea Rift • Yvette Flood (IC) - Controls on fluvial stratigraphic architecture in a large-scale outcrop dataset: Blackhawk Formation, Wasatch Plateau, Utah, USA • Nicholas Holgate (Self) - A comparative study of controls on shoreline trajectories in rift-margin and rift-interior shallow marine systems • Aruna Mannie(Commonwealth) - Structural controls on the stratigraphic architecture of net-transgressive shallow-marine strata, Middle to Upper Jurassic, Norwegian Central Graben • Benoît Massart (Shell) - Improved characterization and modelling of low-permeability sandstone reservoirs • Matthew Lewis (IC) - Structural and stratigraphic evolution of extensional fault-propagation folds • Stefano Patruno(IC) - Linkage between shelf and slope depositional systems along the margins of an active rift basin: insights from shoreline trajectories analysis • Clara Rodriguez (Self) - Regional structural evolution of a saline giant during passive margin development: The role of stratigraphic heterogeneity • ThiloWrona(IC) - Geometry and evolution of the silica diagenetic fronts on the Norwegian Margin: a combined seismic, borehole and geochemical study

13. Completed projects • Research Associates (PDRA) • Dr Gavin Elliott (Statoil) - Stratigraphic development of salt-influenced rift basins (completed 2012) • Dr Karla Kane (Statoil) - Salt-related normal fault growth in rift basins (completed 2008) • PhD Students • EvelinaDmitrieva(IC) – Deposition and remobilisation of deep-water sandbodies in the Norwegian North Sea (completed 2012)  • Paul Whipp(IC) – Fault propagation folding and the growth of normal faults (completed 2011) • Abdullah AdliZakaria(PETRONAS) - Sedimentology of Tertiary deepwater sandstones in NW Sabah, Malaysia: an evaluation of the Paleogene (Oligocene-Miocene) West Crocker Formation and the Neogene (Early Pliocene) Lingan submarine fan systems (completed 2010) • Rachel Kieft (Statoil) – Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of shallow marine sediments in a syn-rift setting; the Hugin Formation, South Viking Graben (completed 201 • Andrew McAndrew(Statoil) – Occurrence and cause of syn-rift erosional unconformities in the northern North Sea (completed 2010) • Faisal Alqahtani(King Abdulaziz University) - 3D seismic geomorphology of fluvial systems (completed 2010)